Rotary strainer



Oct 6, 1931. D. R. MCNEAL 1,826,361

ROTARY STRAINER Filed March 17, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR a f I ATTORNEY V Oct. 6, 1931. D. R. MCNEAL 1,826,361

ROTARY STRAINER Filed March 17. 1930 s sheets-sheet 2 :1 If r I I INVENTOR p in the accompanying Patented Oct. 6, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT orrl ca DANIEL RAYMOND MCNEAL, OF AIBINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR To ANDALE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VAN IA ROTARY STBAINER Application filed March 17, 1930. Serial No. 436,272.

This invention relates to rotary strainers for straining water or' other liquid contain ing objectionable substances such as sticks, weeds, straw, or the like, and particularly to Water strainers which are self-cleaning.

One of the primary objects of my invention is the provision of a strainer of the character described which is of simple, inexpensive and rugged construction and in which the arrangement and construction of the parts is such that extreme accuracy of fit and alignment of parts may be obtained, thus reducing wear of the parts to a minimum and thereby avoiding the necessity of troublesome adj ustments to maintain proper coordination of the arts. i

Another object of'my invention is the pr0- vision of an improved casing for such strainers of a construction to readily withstand pressures without warping.

A more specific object of my inventionre-- sides in the provision of a self-cleaning rotary water strainer in which effective seals against leakage from and to the cleaning instrumentality of the device are maintained without the provision of special and adjustable sealing or packing devices.

- How the foregoing, together with such other objects and advantages as may hereinafter appear, or are incident to my invention, are realized, is illustrated in preferred form drawings wherein,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a rotary strainer embodying my invention, the left hand half being shown in section as taken on the line 11 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a drive device for the strainer with the driving mechanism of the strainer shown in section.

Thestrainer comprises in general a shaft A, a rotor 13 securely mounted on the shaft as by means of a key l, strainer elements C carried by the rotor, a casing indicated as a whole by the reference letter D, bearing devices E and F for the rotor shaft A, a drive shaft G, a driving pinion H secured on the drive shaft, and a driven gear J carried by the rotor and meshing with the pinion H.

. The drive device for the strainer comprises in general a motor K, a speed reducing device L which may he of the worm reduction type, the motor shaft being coupled at 5 to the drive shaft 6 of the reducing device L 1 and the driven shaft 7 of the device L being coupled at 8 to the drive shaft G of the strainer. A suitable bed plate 9 is provided for the motor K and device L.

The rotor B is in the form of a wheel having a hub 10, a plurality of spokes 11 and a rim 12. The gear J is carried peripherally of the rim and may be an integral part thereof as shown. earing rings 1) are secured to the rotor as clearly shown in Fig. 2. {The spokes 11 divide the rotor into a plurality of sector-shaped compartments in which the strainer elements C are located. These may be of any suitable form such for example as grids of corrugated brass or copper strip placed on edge and in preferred form they are of less depth than the width of the wheel and are located toward the face 18 of the Wheel so as to provide pockets 14 at the other face 15 in which the strainings or dbris collect. The grids may beheld in place by means of retaining strips 16.

The casing D is split at 17 in a horizontal plane coinciding with the axis of the wheel and shaft thus providing a lower casing part 18 and an upper casing part 19. Flanges 20 are provided at the split for the reception of clamping bolts 21 and positioning dowels 22.

The lower casing part 18 is provided at one side, in this instance the right hand side as viewed in Fig. 2, with a water inlet throat 23 having a flange 24 to which a water supply pipe 25 is secured. The pipe 25'leads water to be strained to the strainer. In the case of the strainer being used in a river plant the source of supply would be river water containing objectionable foreign matter such as leaves, weeds, fibre, and the like which the device is adapted to strain out. At the other side the casing part 18 is provided with a water outlet throat 26 having a flange 27 to which a water pipe 28 ing water cleaned in the device to the point of use.

The upper casing part 19 is provided with is secured for leadaligned flanged side openings 29 and 30 for the reception of inlet and outlet chambers or boxes 31 and 32 constituting part of an instrunientality for automatically cleaning the strainer in operation so that in effect the strainer is self cleaning.

The inlet box 31 is provided with a flange 33 for securing it to the flange of the opening 29 and the box extends inwardly thru the opening to the rotor C. The box 31 is provided with a face or end wall 34 which abuts or contacts with the face 13 of the rotor thus forming a seal at 35 as between the interior of the box and the interior of the easing D. An inlet fitting 36 is secured at one end to the box 31 and at its other end to an inlet pipe 37 for leading water to the box 31 for cleaning purposes as will presently appear. The pipe 37 may find its source of supply in any clean water altho I prefer to connect this pipe to the pipe 28 of the strainer whereby I by-pass to the box some of the water previously strained in the device.

The outlet box 32 is provided with a flange 38 for securing it to the flange of the opening 30. This box also extends inwardly to the rotor 13 and has a face or end wall 39 which abuts or contacts with the face 15 of the ro-' tor to form a seal at 40 as between the interior of the box and the interior of the casing D. An outlet fitting 41 is secured at one end to. the box 32 and at its other end to an outlet pipe 42 leading away from the box.

The end walls or faces 34 and 39 of the boxes 31 and 32 are substantially sectorshaped as viewed in Fig. 2 and are of such extent as to cover more than one of the strainer element containing compartments of the rotor. In the particular form of device illustratcd I have shown them extending over two coiil izii'tnieiits. These end walls are providcd with apertures 43 thru which the cleaning water passes. The aperture of the inlet box 31 may be provided with an adjustable nozzle member 44 whereby the size of the opening may be altered.

In the operation of the device the rotor is slowly rotated by the driving mechanism above described and the water to be strained is introduced into the chamber 45 at the inlet side of the casing thru the inlet 23 and from thence passes across the rotor and among the strainer elements to the chamber 46 at the outlet side of the casing from whence it discharges thru the outlet 26 into the pipe 28.

' I Thus the strainer elements clear the water of strained water enters the inlet box 31 and passes thru the nozzle 44 across the rotor to the outlet box 32 and in such passage the Water removes or flushes the strainings or d bris away from the rotor and out through the discharge pipe 42 it being noted that the cleaning water flows in opposite direction to the flow of the water being cleaned.

Thus the rotor is self-cleaning for as each compartment of the wheel comes into registry with the aligned cleaning boxes 31 and 32 the dbris collected in the pockets 14 is washed off by means of the jet of cleaning water and is carried away to a convenient point by means of the discharge pipe.

The amount of cleaning water required for this back washing will depend on local conditions and in order to keep this at a minimum, the adjustable nozzle 44 is provided, which may be adjusted to alter the size of the opening to suit conditions. Adjusting screws 45a accessible thru a covered opening 4630!. are pro vided for this purpose.

Reverting now to the bearing devices E and F it will be seen that they are mounted on pads 47 and 48 provided on the lower casing part 18. In order to obtain perfect alignment of the bearing devices shim plates 49 may be employed between them and the pads.

The bearing device E includes an anti-friction radial bearing 50, a mounting and housing 51 therefor, an end cover member 52, a retaining plate 53, for securing the bearing on the shaft A, and a packing assembly 54 for retaining lubricant in the device.

The bearing device F includes an anti-friction combined radial and thrust bearing 55, a mounting and housing 56 therefor, a retaining plate 57 for securing the bearing on the shaft A and a packing assembly 58 for retaining lubricant in the device. The thrust bearing 55 takes up thrusts produced by the flow of water thru the strainer.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by providing a horizontally split casing and by supporting the bearing devices for the shaft from one of the parts of the casing very accurate alignment of the rotor with the casing is obtained. If it is desired to gain access to the interior of the strainer it is only necessary to disconnect the cleaning water pipes 37 and 42 from the fittings 36 and 41 and remove the clamping bolts 21 and dowels 22 and then the upper casing member 19 may be re moved. This will not in any way disturb the rotor and its mounting devices. Since the cleaning boxes 31 and 32 are securely fastened to the u per casing part they will not be disturbed w en the upper part is removed.

Furthermore the use of anti-friction bearing devices enables a very close fit between the rotor and the faces of the cleaning boxes 31 and 32, so that no packing devices need be employed. The rugged construction obtained insures isolation of the cleaning chambers from the interior of'the strainer casing so that in the case of the strainer being located on the suction side of a pump there will be no penetration of negative pressure to the cleaning boxes, it being obvious that if this were so the pump would lose its suction since the boxes are exposed to atmospheric pressure.

Reverting now to the casing D it will be seen that the walls thereof arev bulged Whereby substantially spherical pressure chambers are provided at each side of the rotor. Thru this construction the casing will withstand heavy pressures without tendency toward warping as would be the case if fiat Walls were used.

What I claim is: I Y 1. In a rotary liquid strainer, the combination of a shaft, a strainer rotor carried thereby, a casing split in a direction longitudinally of the shaft into a straining unit and a cleaning unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the straining unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the cleaning unit, a

cleaning unit adapted to fitclosely against the rotor, and means for det'achably securing the boxes for ready removal from the cleaning unit through their respective openings.

2. In a rotary liquid strainer, the combination of a shaft, a strainer rotor carried thereby, a casing split in a direction longitudinally of the shaft into a straining unit and a'cleaning unit, bearing means for the shaft carried by the straining unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the straining unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the cleaning unit, a cleaning box for each of the openings in said cleaning unit adapted to fit closely against the rotor, and means for detachably securing the boxes for ready removal from the cleaning unit through their respective openings, said cleaning unit serv-' ing as a combined casing cover and cleaning box support.

3. In a rotary liquid strainer, the combination of a shaft, a strainer rotor carried thereby, a casing split in a direction longitudinally of the shaft into a straining unit and a cleaning unit, bearing means for the shaft carried by the straining unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the straining unit, a rotor driving connection carried by the straining unit, an inlet opening and an out- 55 let opening in the cleaning unit, a cleaning box for each of the openings in said cleaning unit adapted to fit closely against the rotor, and means for detachably securing the boxes for ready removal from the cleaning unit through their respective openings, said cleaning unit serving as a combined casing cover and cleaning box support.

4. In a rotary liquid strainer, the combination of a shaft, a strainer rotor carried thereby, a casing split in a direction longitudinally cleaning box for each of the openings in said of the shaft into a straining unit and a clean ing unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the straining unit, an inlet opening and an outlet opening in the cleaning unit, a cleaning box for the outlet opening in said cleaning unit adapted to fit closely against the rotor, and means for detachably securing said box for ready removal from the cleaning unit through the said outlet opening without disturbing the balance of the rotor, its shaft or either of said units, said cleaning unit serving as a combined casing cover and cleanin box support.

gm testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

D. RAYMOND McNEAL. 

